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1
Listen, you rulers of Israel! You are supposed to be concerned about justice,

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yet you hate what is good and you love what is evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh off their bones.

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You eat my people up. You strip off their skin, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the pot.

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The time is coming when you will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer you. He will not listen to your prayers, for you have done evil.

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My people are deceived by prophets who promise peace to those who pay them, but threaten war for those who don't. To these prophets the Lord says,

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"Prophets, your day is almost over; the sun is going down on you. Because you mislead my people, you will have no more prophetic visions, and you will not be able to predict anything."

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Those who predict the future will be disgraced by their failure. They will all be humiliated because God does not answer them.

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But as for me, the Lord fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are.

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Listen to me, you rulers of Israel, you that hate justice and turn right into wrong.

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You are building God's city, Jerusalem, on a foundation of murder and injustice.

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The city's rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay, the prophets give their revelations for money - and they all claim that the Lord is with them. "No harm will come to us," they say. "The Lord is with us."

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And so, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the Temple hill will become a forest. 1